


My armour (comes from you)

by heartsocold



Series: Requests, Prompts and Drabbles [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Fluff and Humor, arthur is worried and protective, crack maybe?, i have no idea how to tag this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:46:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27638401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartsocold/pseuds/heartsocold
Summary: Merlin gets injured on a hunting trip and the Knights and Arthur decide he needs proper armour.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: Requests, Prompts and Drabbles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2028964
Comments: 1
Kudos: 97





	My armour (comes from you)

This wasn’t meant to happen. Everything was fine. It was great even. Until, of course, it wasn’t.

It was supposed to be a normal, routine, run-of-the-mill hunting trip just like any other. Merlin had woken Arthur up with his usual sprity cry of “Up and at ‘em” even as Arthur moaned and groaned to be left alone.

Merlin had dressed him and brought him breakfast, chattering on and on about whatever gossip he had managed to hear that morning and then he had complained about Arthur’s ridiculous love for stealing the lives of innocent animals. 

They had left Camelot before lunch and despite Merlin tripping and falling loudly in a poorly-concealed effort to scare away the game, Arthur had managed to shoot three rabbits with his crossbow. 

By late afternoon, he had a pair of pheasants to add to his kills. Since the summer sun had become unbearably hot at that point, they decided to head back, considering it a day well spent.

Of course, this was Arthur and Merlin and they both seemed to be magnets for trouble so, naturally, they were ambushed by bandits. 

It was a small hunting party consisting of only the both of them as well as Elyan, Leon and Gwaine and soon they were surrounded and outnumbered by the large group of bandits.

They proved themselves to be Camelot’s best as they managed to disarm and incapacitate most of the bandits swiftly before they could do much damage but one of them had managed to sneak up on Merlin whose attention had been focused on Arthur. 

Seeing the shadow of the man just in the nick of time, Merlin side-stepped but the blade of the sword still managed to nick him on his left, right under the ribs. 

He cried out in shock, dodging the sword another time as Arthur came to his rescue. He quickly dispatched him before turning to Merlin who was now bleeding through his thin tunic. 

He swore angrily to himself, pulling Merlin deeper into the forest, closer to a steady stream of water as his knights dealt with the remaining bandits.

“It’s fine,” Merlin muttered, wincing when he tried to pull away. Arthur glared at him, the stormy blue eyes betraying his concern.

“Let me see. Of course you’d manage to get yourself stabbed,” He grumbled, gently peeling the blood-soaked fabric off Merlin’s skin. He clenched his jaw at the amount of blood flowing out of the wound, trying his best to not panic. It didn’t look deep but this was Merlin. Merlin was never supposed to get hurt. Ever. 

“See? The blood’s already begun to clot. It’s just a scratch,” Merlin insisted.

Arthur rolled his eyes, bending down to cup some water into his hands so he could wash the area around the wound. 

“It’s not just a scratch,  _ Mer _ lin. You’ll need to bandage that,” He informed. “Honestly, you’re the physician’s apprentice, how do you not know this?”

Arthur reached under his chainmail and ripped piece of his own tunic, bunching the cloth and pressing it to the wound. 

“Hold that there until we can find some bandages,” He ordered, peering through the trees to see if it was safe to take them back to their horses.

“They’re all taken care of, Sire!” Elyan called when Arthur caught his eye. Nodding to himself, he led Merlin back to the group.

“Merlin! What happened?”

“Are you hurt badly?”

“Whose blood is that?”

“I’m fine! It’s just a shallow cut. You lot have definitely seen worse,” Merlin rolled his eyes, sounding so exasperated that Arthur had to bite back his smile.

“Be that as it may, we should look into getting you some protective clothing,” He noted.

“Of course, Sire,” Merlin humoured him, allowing himself to be helped onto his horse.

-

“Uh, what is this?” Merlin asked a few weeks later, staring at the pile of armour and chainmail Arthur had dumped unceremoniously into his hands.

“Protective armour,” Arthur enunciated, his tone implying that it was fairly obvious and Merlin was, in fact, an idiot.

“Well yes, but what do you expect me to do with it? You’re all already dressed,” Merlin explained, using his head to gesture to the hunting party of knights that were all decked out.

“Exactly. Come on  _ Mer _ lin, you’re not that daft. Use that head of yours for once.”

Arthur was looking at him with that stupid smirk he had worn when he made him wear the hat with the feathers and wait a minute…

“You cannot be serious!”

“And he gets it!”Arthur applauded with a grin on his face. “Now put it on.”

“But-but, I’m not a knight!” 

“Have I ever told you how talented you are at stating facts?”

  
“And it’s heavy! Not to mention I’ll probably catch a heat stroke in this!” Merlin argued, dutifully ignoring the snickering knights in the background.

“Come on Merlin, we just don’t want you to get hurt again,” Gwaine interjected, gesturing for him to put the armour on.

“It was barely a scratch!” 

“Yes, because I was there to fight him off. I can’t spend all my time saving you though, now, can I?” Arthur grouched mockingly but Merlin could see the mischievous glint in his eye. He was enjoying this - the bastard.

“Well, I think the best way to keep me safe would be to not drag me along on these hunting trips,” Merlin pointed out helpfully. Arthur reached out to smack him around his head.

“Nice try. Now, put this on or I will do it for you,” He ordered.

“Unlike some people, I can get dressed myself,” Merlin grumbled as he turned away, knowing he had lost the battle. The knights seemed satisfied and they left him to don his armour.

“This is completely unnecessary, you do know that right?” Merlin voiced as Arthur came closer to help him. “I’m not a knight, I’m a servant. Servants aren’t supposed to wear armour.”

“Merlin,” Arthur’s voice cut off whatever else he was about to say. 

Merlin turned to look at him, watching him swallow roughly as he held Merlin’s hand in his.

“I know that. Trust me, I do but you and I both know that you’re more than just a servant. I can’t stand the thought of you getting hurt, alright? So just wear the blasted armour so I won’t have to worry about you and I can enjoy hunting in peace.”

“Okay, yes, fine. I’ll wear it,” Merlin conceded, still taken aback by how easily Arthur declared these things. He was always straightforward about his feelings. Of course, he didn’t say it often so the few times he did always seemed to take away Merlin’s ability to think. Or argue. Or breathe. 

He wanted to tell him that he didn’t need to worry because his magic would protect him but he couldn’t. Not yet. They were still new. He knew Arthur cared about him more than as a friend but they hadn’t exactly figured out where they stood with each other yet.

So, for now, he’d wear the stupid armour if that’s what made him happy.

He would still complain about it though.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to request anything you want!


End file.
